


The Intern

by Marlex7



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, Post-Thor (2011), Pre-Thor (2011)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-18 01:03:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3550301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marlex7/pseuds/Marlex7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of interconnected shorts following Darcy Lewis before, during and after the Marvel movies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Internship

**Author's Note:**

> So this collection was pretty quite for awhile, but I'm back to working on it. My goal to continue adding scenes around the various movies. Although it won't have any parings at first, this story (or more likely a sequel story) will eventually be Steve/Darcy because they are my MCU OTP.

Darcy Lewis knocked on the office door and heard a muddled, “Come in,” from the other side. Opening the door, she walked into the small office, which was just big enough for the desk facing her and the woman sitting behind it. Bookshelves took up almost all of the remaining space, lining both side walls, filled from top to bottom with thick binders.

As for the woman, who was looking at her with seemingly professional disinterest, she was blond, her hair in a severe bun that somehow made her look to be both in her mid-30s and late 40s, and Darcy couldn’t tell which was more likely. Her expression was unreadable, which, considering the call Darcy received that morning, did nothing to alleviate the worry within her.

“Hi,” she said, her voice sounding too high to her ears. “I’m Darcy Lewis.” She closed the door and, upon a nod from the woman, sat in the empty chair facing her.

When the woman still hadn’t spoken after several long moments, Darcy said, “I got a call this morning that there was a problem with my internship?”

“Yes Miss Lewis,” the woman said, she voice sounding like one of her less favorite professors in the throes of a lengthy and boring lecture. “I’m sorry to say Professor Lawndish has unexpectedly taken a position at another university, so your scheduled internship has been canceled.”

“Canceled?” Dary spat, thoughts of her impending graduation and the six credits that stood between her and the degree in political science she had been pursuing for almost four years. “I need those credits. What am I supposed to do?”

“I understand this is a serious issue,” the woman said, sounding as if she hadn’t heard Darcy at all. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”

Inconvenience? Like hell, Darcy thought, this was a flipping disaster. Professor Lawndish promised her a pain-free internship helping him research his latest book. After a few months sitting in libraries reading, taking notes and listening to her iPod, she would have her credits and her degree. And best of all, it was local, so she wouldn’t need to find a new apartment. She was due to sign a new lease next week, so at least this happened before she locked herself in for another four months, but staring at the woman across the desk, it was small solace.

Darcy signed up for the internship six weeks ago in this very office, and she was betting that the pickings were pretty slim this close to the end of the semester.

As if reading her mind, the woman said, “Unfortunately, there are very few open internship positions and even fewer offering six credits. In fact, there appears to only be one available that will allow you to graduate on time and meets your skill set, even though it is admittedly out of field for your course of study.”

“I’ll take it,” Darcy said quickly, and then thought for a moment. “What exactly am I taking?”

“It appears the work will be mostly tabulating data and monitoring equipment. The position is unpaid, but does include room and board for the duration, which will be the entire summer.”

“Equipment? What kind of equipment?”

“The sponsor is Dr. Jane Foster, an astrophysicist.”

“Astrophysicist? Like studying stars and stuff?” Darcy asked.

“Something like that,” the woman replied, her tone never changing. “According to the paperwork, she will setting up her operation in a small town in rural New Mexico. It was a last minute request, and you’re the first applicant to even hear about it.” 

After a pause, she continued, the first hint of emotion breaking through in her voice, “Normally I would hold it for someone in field, but under the circumstance, it’s yours if you want it.”

Darcy didn’t even bother to consider it. Free room and board. And six credits! “Well, sounds like it will be pretty boring, but beggars can’t be choosers,” she said. “I’ll take it.”

“Good,” the woman said. ““I’ll send Miss Foster a note that she can expect you in two weeks once the semester is over.”


	2. The Scientist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy Lewis didn’t have the greatest first impression of Jane Foster, and if she was honest with herself, which she did try to be most of the time, Jane probably didn’t have the best first impression of her either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten this, and I do hope I can update more regularly, at least so I can catch up with the movies soon.

Darcy Lewis didn’t have the greatest first impression of Jane Foster, and if she was honest with herself, which she did try to be most of the time, Jane probably didn’t have the best first impression of her either.

She knew going into this internship she was completely out of field, and worst of all, Jane knew it. The young scientist did greet her enthusiastically when Darcy first arrived, showing her around the place, including the lab, the kitchen and her bedroom. The building Jane had commandeered for her studies was strange and Darcy couldn’t figure out exactly what it had been in its first life, but it had since been reincarnated as base of operations in the search for “planetary-based phenomena linked to the existence of Einstein Rosen bridges on a multi-planar construction,” as Jane put it.

The third time Jane tried to explain the theories behind her research only to be met with Darcy’s blank stare, it apparently finally sunk in that her new intern had no clue what she was talking about. This led to some major sulking on the part of Jane and a not so inconsequential amount of fear on the part of Darcy that she was going to be fired from her unpaid internship on the first day and lose out on her last chance to graduate on schedule.

Fortunately, Jane got sidetracked by a seemingly random spike from her instruments and Darcy had the opportunity over the next few days to showcase her skills as an intern. It turned out atmospheric data and gravitational wave fluctuations, when converted into seemingly endless lines of numbers, were not so different from time-collated polling data, which Darcy did have extensive experience with thanks to her poli-sci classes, and she soon had the reams of printouts and Jane’s handwritten notations collected into neat spreadsheets, complete with rainbow-colored graphs.

Jane was apparently satisfied with her work because the complaints about Darcy’s lack of astrophysical knowledge dwindled, even if she did still shake her head from time to time when what was surely a brilliant scientific soliloquy produced no mutual excitement in her intern.

Slowly, Darcy settled into the odd little world contained within the walls of Hotel la Foster, as she liked to refer to it, whose inhabitants included its namesake scientist; her mentor Erik Selvig, who had greeted Darcy with smiles from the beginning; and Jane’s boyfriend, Donald Blake, a doctor spending his two-week vacation with his girlfriend.

In the end, the work was not terribly unlike what Darcy expected her time working with Professor Lawndish to be, collating data while listening to her trusty iPod. Admittedly, Puente Antiguo was more small town than the area around Culver, but it had a bar, a coffee shop, and even a decent music store, so as far as she was concerned, it was capable of supporting human life.

The pleasant, if somewhat dull, existence Darcy found herself in, however, was completely upended with one singular event. Two days before the end of his vacation, Donald broke up with Jane, leaving in the middle of the night in such a fit that he left half his clothes.

The succeeding week taught Darcy several important facts, which are hereunto listed in the order of their discovery.

One. Jane Foster is actually human, which Darcy discovered when she dragged the small-statured scientist away from her tears to the bar and got her suitably drunk. Since the bar was only a ten-minute walk from the lab, Darcy didn’t feel obligated to stay sober herself, and soon the pair were singing karaoke together, to the cheers of the jeans-wearing male audience.

Two. Jane Foster was actually a decent friend, or at least, the possibility of such a friendship was there, and the seeds of which were planted in their drunken camaraderie.

Three. Jane Foster, without the promise of sex back in her bedroom, would submit herself to the will of Science--and yes, that is Science with a capital S--without regard to her physical and mental well-being. It was three days after their alcoholic conquest of the bar when, ready for sleep, Darcy found Jane in the same chair looking at the same computer screen she had seen her that morning. It took a moment to realize Jane had not left said chair and computer screen all day, and Darcy couldn’t be certain if the scientist had slept at all the night before. Thus began Darcy’s monitoring of Jane’s eating and sleeping habits as well as her control over such matters to ensure Jane survived long enough to at least sign her internship papers. With Darcy now aware of the new situation, Jane began to at least sleep semi-regularly and Darcy started stocking Pop-Tarts--the only food she found she could consistently rely on Jane to eat--in order to ensure her blood sugar was close to recommended levels.

Despite the added headaches, Darcy found herself growing closer to her companions. She and Jane were becoming something beyond scientist/intern and at least approaching friend territory. And as for Eric, he was both mother-hen and scientific brother to Jane and was beginning offer a similar albeit personalized role in Darcy’s life as well.

And because of this, she decided her time in Puente Antiguo was at least moderately more interesting than spending her summer in a dusty library. As best she could tell, Jane’s research was pretty out there on the believability spectrum, so it wasn’t likely they would actually find something during their periodic sojourns into the desert. But she would get her credits either way, and now she only had two more months to go and she would have her degree.


	3. The Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy bonds with Erik over alcohol and she admits some of her worries for the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? Unheard of in the realm of my writing.

Darcy Lewis wasn’t an alcoholic--she really wasn’t--but she did have to pause to consider how her current personal connections, namely Jane Foster and Erik Selvig, had been built on a foundation of mutual drunkenness.

Darcy consoling Jane about her breakup with Donald over shots and karaoke had formed the basis of their growing friendship. Of course, helping someone get over a nasty breakup had resulted in more than one friendship during her four years at Culver, and she hadn’t always been the one doing the consoling.

Even though Jane was a full-blown scientist, they weren’t that different in age thanks to Jane’s considerable intelligence and the fact she graduated college a few years early. And because of that, she apparently hadn’t had nearly the wild college experience Darcy did, so perhaps she was making up for lost time, at least in the few occasions when the Science--again with the capital S--permitted it.

All of that being said, Darcy did have to wonder just how she had ended up once again drunk at Puente Antiguo’s lone bar with her drinking partner for the night being not Jane, but Erik, who about an hour into their battle against the realm of beer and shots was indeed Erik and not Dr. Selvig.

Jane was sleeping off a two-night science bender that neither Darcy nor Erik had been able to break her from after her instruments starting spiking in a unusual way. To Darcy’s surprise, Erik suggested a trip to the bar and she had accepted. Not once during her two months in Puente Antiguo had she gotten a skeevy vibe from the older man, and decided he was just looking for a friend, which, if she was being honest, she could use another as well.

In turned out, Darcy was right. She also learned Erik had a considerable tolerance for alcohol, and though he rambled a bit here and there, he didn’t slur his words as much as she would have figured as he shared stories of working with Jane’s father as well as Jane herself.

Darcy, in turn, spoke about her time at college, admitting that political science was her third major in her college career, a fact that her parents were not exactly thrilled about, but they were the supportive type and had allowed her to follow her ever-changing pursuits.

Unwittingly, this subject led to murkier waters, emotionally speaking, and she started talking about her worries about life post-graduation and her fear that she wasn’t actually prepared to handle the “real world.”

Erik patting her on the shoulder and assured her that very few people were. It could have easily come across as an empty platitude to a drunken 22-year-old, but coming from Erik, it felt more substantial. Even as comforting as it was, however, it didn’t stop Darcy’s mind from jumping further down the rabbit hole she had already entered.

“It’s just that everytime I get close to finishing something, I back away and start something else,” she said, wincing at the growing whine in her voice. “Each time I just know I’m not going to be any good at it, so I find something new to try. Then I do it again. Rinse and repeat.”

“Alright, enough of that,” Erik said, clapping his hands. “One more round and they we’re heading back.”

“Okay,” she said glumly while Erik signaled the bartender.

It wasn’t long before two more shots were sitting on the bar in front of them.

“Darcy, let me tell you something, and I do hope you remember it, alcohol or no alcohol,” Erik said. “You are smarter and more capable than you realize. Do you really think just anybody would be able to sort through all of the data we’ve been collecting, especially when you didn’t really understand the concepts behind it? And don’t think I haven’t noticed that you’re picking up more things than you’re letting on. You are smart young woman. And a caring one, who helped someone very close to me through a hard time.”

He held up his shot glass and prompted her to do the same.

“You are special person, Darcy Lewis,” he said. “And I want you to promise me you’ll remember that.” He stared at her. “Promise?”

Darcy felt warmed by Erik’s words. He was a scientist like Jane and she’d always seen him call the situation like it was, even if it might not be what the other person wanted to hear. She smiled and felt more of the worries drain off.

“Promise.”

“Good,” he said, clinked his glass to hers and downed the shot. She quickly followed.

Back at Hotel la Foster, they found Jane not asleep but working furiously in her lab.

“The signals Erik,” she exclaimed upon noticing them for the first time. “They’re stronger than ever, and they’re building. If my calculations are correct, they should peak two nights from now. The most likely location is miles and miles out of town, but we can reach it in the van. Looks like we’re going on a field trip.”

Erik went over to look at Jane’s findings, his excitement shining through the alcohol. “This is amazing Jane.”

Darcy looked at the two and smiled. Her life might not be exactly as she expected it would be, but in a short few weeks she would have her degree and maybe, just maybe, she would make it out there.

Then a thought occurred to her.

“I thought we were already on a field trip.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now we've caught up with "Thor." Step one complete.


	4. The Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy deals with the emotional aftermath of the attack on Puente Antiguo.

The explosion was deafening and Darcy could feel the heat of the flames as debris rained down on them followed quickly by a blinding wave of hot smoke and dust. Somehow she managed to stay on her feet, but Erik, one a step ahead of her, was hit by something which sent the older man to the ground.

Darcy and Jane stooped to help Erik to his feet, but the sickening screech of the giant metal monstrosity roared again and she felt another wave of heat wash over her, stinging her eyes already filled with tears of pain and fear.

She risked a look up and saw another building had been obliterated, and Thor’s warrior friends were no longer attacking it and instead simply trying to flee with their lives.

Then the monster turned its face toward them, and Darcy saw it light up orange, the roar building once again.

“Jane!” she shouted, but the scientist was still checking on Erik, who was up to one knee.

Erik saw it, however, and shouted for them to run. It didn’t matter. There was no time. The blasted blinded Darcy a second before the fire crashed over her, burning and tearing and the resulting pain was incomprehensible.

Then it was gone, and Darcy was sitting up in bed, drenched in sweat, breathing hard, still smelling the acrid smell of the battle, which she knew wasn’t real since it was hours since the attack. It was dark. And her nightmare had frightened her awake into that darkness.

The dream and her memories of the day blended together, whirling in her mind as she once again tried to accept just how close she had come to dying in the streets of Puente Antiguo.

It wasn’t like the day had started with an alert on her phone saying, “Be careful today. You might just die as collateral damage in a sibling feud between Norse gods.”

No, the day started quietly and not just because the SHIELD jackboots had stolen her iPod. She was also being considerate to Erik, who she could tell was suffering from one hell of a hangover. Her consideration, however, didn’t keep her from smirking at the older man, enjoying the fact that he was the one hungover this time, unlike their last visit to the bar four days before.

Then Thor’s friends arrived, looking they were about to pick him up to go to Comic-Con. Even then, they could have chalked up everything that had happened to a crazy delusion and an overprotective government agency.

The then sky opened. And it arrived.

“Was somebody else coming?” she asked Thor’s friends, her mind already accepting the now very real fact that they too had arrived in a similar fashion.

The subsequent explosions answered her question as to the newcomer’s intentions. Thor’s friends seemed more than willing for a fight, but Thor instead was urging Jane and the rest of them to leave. It was a sentiment Darcy could absolutely get behind, and in fact, it was probably the sanest thing Thor had said since they ran him over in the desert.

But Jane had to go all noble and say, “If you’re staying, then so am I.”

Darcy’s first thought was Jane was crazy and for a second she expected Erik to say just that. But then she looked around at the locals, some of whom she knew quite well from their weeks in town, and realized they had no idea just what kind of danger they were in. Neither did she, for that matter, but she she knew anything dealing with ancient gods couldn’t be good.

This led her to memories of her father often telling her that doing what’s right isn’t always easy. She didn’t think he had helping evacuate a town ahead of a rampaging extraterrestrial death machine in mind when he was telling her this, but the thought spurned her on even though her brain was trying in vain to kick in her flight reflex.

“Ok, move it people,” she shouted, surprised that despite the slight waver in her voice, she sounded as calm as she did.

Time seemed to speed up as they helped kids into trucks and before Darcy knew it, the thing was in the town, blowing up buildings as the few locals left ran in terror. Hiding behind the cover of one of the stores with Jane, Erik and Thor, she watched his friends attack, only to be repelled by its fury.

Then Thor was telling them to run and they did, the latest explosion raining debris over them, bringing Darcy’s thoughts back to her dream. Again, she saw the monstrosity aiming at her, but that is not how the events actually played out. Instead, Thor drew its attention and it seemed to power down, only to change its mind and attack.

Fear and adrenaline combined to break what happened next into a series of finite moments that kept her mind far away from the near death experience she had just survived. Thor appeared to die. He regained his powers in a literal bolt of lightning. He destroyed the monster. He and Jane flew away. It was like a slideshow, only she had been there.

Darcy and Erik gave Thor’s friends a ride back to their arrival site. Along the way, they filled them in on the latest Asgardian happenings, which apparently involved Thor’s brother Loki and a potential war with Frost Giants. Yeah. What little was left of her boring internship was now officially gone.

Then Thor and his friends were gone as well. And the SHIELD agents were back. When Thor failed to fly down in another light tornado, Jane was more than a little disappointed.

But true to Agent Colson’s word, SHIELD returned their equipment in return for debriefings and signing about three dozen non-disclosure agreements. Darcy even got her iPod back.

Back at Hotel la Foster, they connected enough of the hardware to begin taking readings again, and Darcy knew there would be no dragging Jane away from the equipment, so she bid her and Erik a good night and left for her bedroom.

Too tired to dwell on the day, she fell asleep, but her mind apparently wasn’t done with it.

She had almost died. Sure, everyone had those moments where you realize if you’d taken an extra step off the curb that cab would have sideswiped you. But this was the first time somebody--or well, something--had literally tried to end her life. The thought was scary. Really goddamned scary.

But she also knew she and the others had saved lives. She’d seen the news about Iron Man and she could now say she personally knew a god. Superheroes were real. Now she didn’t put herself on that level, but she also couldn’t fly or have a multi-billion dollar battle suit. And without those things, they still did good work today, and it had nothing to do with degrees or internships or even science--with or without the capital S. It hadn’t been easy, but was the right thing to do.

And that, she decided in the dark, was worth a nightmare or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several lines of dialogue borrowed from the movie. I've got two more chapters planned (but not yet written) dealing with the direct aftermath of the first "Thor" movie. I've been on a role lately, but I make no promises when I'll get the next ones written. I also some ideas for tying this with "Avengers" and "Dark World," but if you have any specific requests, I'll see what I can do. Comments welcome!


	5. The Graduate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy is back home after her internship with Jane and about to finally attend her own graduation ceremony. What she's going to do next is a mystery, but then Jane arrives with an intriguing offer.

“I’m so proud of you,” Darcy’s mother said, repeating herself for at least the twentieth time that day.

“Thanks, mom,” answered Darcy, who had to admit she wasn’t tired of hearing the sentiment quite yet.

“You did good, kid,” added her father, who was walking on the opposite side of her.

Their entire group, Darcy, her parents and her two sisters, Samantha and Nina, were making their way across the crowded quad to Culver’s auditorium, where her graduation ceremony was set to begin in a little less than an hour. It was a longer walk than if her family parked in the auditorium’s lot, but Darcy had convinced them it would save on traffic hassles to park further away. If she could make it wearing her graduation gown, her family to do it as well.

“Thanks, dad,” Darcy said, dodging out of the way from a skateboard-riding guy heading in the opposite direction.

A few seconds after he passed, Darcy heard Nina, who was 17 and about to begin her senior year in high school, whisper loudly to Samantha, the eldest Lewis sister, “Did you see his tattoos?” After a second’s pause, she added, “Hot!”

If her parents heard the comment, and she was sure they had, they pretended not to notice.

The pause in the conversation, however, allowed Darcy to reflect on what was about to happen. She was graduating college and only one summer session late. She’d started the summer six credits short and only needed an internship to finish her degree. What a summer it had turned out to be.

“So, you said your professor is meeting us for the ceremony?” her father asked, breaking Darcy from her thoughts..

The question threw Darcy for a loop for a second until she realized he was referring to Jane.

“Jane wasn’t my professor dad, she was the scientist I was interning for,” Darcy said. “She’s scarily brilliant, like total genius level stuff, but we’re more like friends at this point than teacher/student.”

She didn’t add that surviving an intergalactic incident and dealing with Men in Black from a secret government agency helped the bonding process along. She, of course, couldn’t mention any of those events. The multiple non-disclosure agreements she’d signed had been particularly specific on the repercussions of such breaches.

“It’s good to have friends like that,” her mother said.

Darcy knew her mother was happy that her middle daughter was graduating college, but she also knew her mother was quite aware that political science had been the third major of Darcy’s college career as well as the fact that she had been decidedly vague about her plans after this afternoon’s ceremony. 

Darcy had been avoiding putting much thought into her life after today because she honestly didn’t have a clue what it would entail. She’d been back at the home she grew up in for the past two weeks after completing her internship with Jane and assuring their SHIELD handlers that she wasn’t going to go blab about Thor on Facebook. Being in familiar surroundings had helped her ground herself, and if nothing else, it cut down on the nightmares she still got occasionally. She’d only have one since she’d been home.

But as to what tomorrow would bring, she literally had no clue.

As if on queue, she heard her name being called from a distance in a voice she instantly recognized.

“Jane!” she answered, breaking away from her parents to hug the approaching scientist. “You made it!”

“Of course, I did,” Jane said. “You didn’t think I would forget, did you?”

“Asks the person who forgets to eat when I’m not around. I was honestly worried if you would survive at all, let alone remember the right day.”

“I’m not that helpless,” Jane pouted. “I did manage to exist for the 23 years before I met you. And not even Science would keep me from being here.”

Darcy could hear the capital S in her friend’s sentence, but she didn’t let it distract her from the fact that it seemed like Jane was protesting a bit too much. “Erik made sure you didn’t forget, didn’t he?”

Jane looked guilty. “He may have pulled some of the fuses from the electrical box yesterday to make sure I didn’t miss my flight this morning.”

Darcy noticed her parents and sisters were standing to the side looking expectantly for an introduction.

“Sorry, guys,” Darcy said. “Jane, these are my parents, Jessica and Dustin Lewis, and my sisters, Samantha and Nina.” Motioning back to the diminutive scientist, she added, “Guys, this is Jane.”

A round of hugs and handshakes here exchanged and soon the group was once again moving toward the auditorium.

“I want to thank you for taking care of our daughter for the past couple of months,” Darcy’s mother said. “We can tell the experience changed her and for the better.”

Darcy wasn’t sure if she should be offended by the comment or not, but didn’t say anything, instead exchanging a glance with Jane.

“Honestly, Mrs. Lewis, Darcy spent more time taking care of me than the other way around,” Jane said. “I can get a bit...focused...when it comes to my research and Darcy has a knack for keeping me…” She paused, looking at Darcy. “How do you put it? Oh yeah, fed and watered.”

“Darcy!” her mother exclaimed, sounding scandalized.

“No, it’s true,” Jane added.

“I have to admit, I was surprised when Darcy told me her internship was going to be with an astrophysicist. That’s not exactly her field.”

“True, and I was a bit surprised myself when she arrived, but Darcy was the only applicant and frankly, I’m not sure how I would have made it without her. It was a wild few months. We had a few adventures to be sure.”

“Oh really?” Darcy’s mother asked. “Stargazing gets adventurous? And I don’t mean that to be ugly, I’m just curious, because Darcy really hasn’t told us much about her time in New Mexico.”

Darcy sent Jane another look, this time of a pleading nature silently asking her friend to not get them all thrown into some black site prison for violating their NDAs. If her friend noticed, she couldn’t tell.

Still, Jane seemed to have realized the potential quagmire she’d was in and answered, “Well, you’d be surprised. Mostly though, it was collecting data and trying to find unusual phenomena to back up my theories. Darcy is an absolute wiz at putting everything together so I could go through it and look for anomalies.”

Before they could continue the conversation, however, the group reached the auditorium and the point where Darcy would have to split off from the rest. She said her goodbyes to her family, but when she turned to do the same with Jane, the other woman asked if she could spare a few minutes so she could ask Darcy something.

“Sure,” Darcy said, although she couldn’t help but pull out her phone to check the time.

She allowed Jane to pull her off the sidewalk to a relatively empty grassy area, giving them the semblance of privacy.

“I need you,” Jane said once they were far enough away from the main flow of people.

Although her friend looked ernest, Darcy couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks. Been waiting my whole life to hear those words.” She would have made a joke about Jane having somebody already, but Thor and his lack of return were still sore subjects.

“I mean it. The work hasn’t been nearly as organized and efficient since you left.”

“Good to know I’m missed, but as much fun we had the past few months, you know better than anybody that my internship was way out of field and you could find somebody much more qualified to help you,” Darcy said, pushing aside a part of herself that was arguing for her to stop talking and let Jane finish. “Besides, I’m graduating today. I need to find a job, and no offense Jane, I need one that actually, you know, pays me in more than pop tarts.”

“Darcy,” Jane said, her voice taking on that serious tone which Darcy had been conditioned over her time in Nevada to pay attention to and listen. “Erik and I had a long conversation about this. He knows as well as I that you are more qualified than you give yourself credit for. Do you think just anybody could have come in with no prior knowledge and kept our operation running so well. And you do know a lot more than you did a few months ago.

“Look, I know you don’t like SHIELD after the whole iPod issue. Believe me, I understand completely. But even Erik thinks that they’re treating us pretty fairly up to this point and the data they gave us after…” Here she faltered. “Well, after you know who arrived and left. That information could keep us going for months even without new occurrences. And I reached out to Coulson about some additional grant money. He apparently pulled some strings and my budget has an extra zero now.”

Darcy tried to take this all in, all the while resisting the urge to check the time on her phone again. “What are you saying?”

“I want to hire you. Not as an intern but as my assistant. And before you ask, no you wouldn’t be working for SHIELD. You’d be working for me and while I’m not 100 percent sure where the money is coming from, the checks don’t say SHIELD and for now, that’s good enough for me. Erik’s on board, and you know his opinion of SHIELD.”

Darcy felt inclined to say Jane’s assurances about SHEILD weren’t entirely reassuring but then her mind focused back on Jane’s words before that. A job. A paid job. Working with Jane. Trying to find holes in the universe.

On one hand she about to receive the degree she’d been working toward for the past four years. A degree that she really didn’t know yet what she wanted to do with it. Whatever it was, however, was sure to be relatively mundane, but also safe, with little chance of death machines and aliens gods.

On the other hand, she had a job offer from her best friend. And Jane really was that now. Annoying, stubborn and frighteningly single-minded, but Jane was hers. Sure there was a chance that Jane would find another hole in the universe, but could Darcy live with herself if Jane did just that and Darcy wasn’t there to keep on eye on her. Plus, it was a paid gig.

Darcy liked to think of herself as a spontaneous ball of energy, but honestly, she was anything but when it came to big decisions. Which is exactly why she had three different majors in four years. She always jumped ship just before making it to shore, afraid she wouldn’t be any good on land. If she accepted Jane’s offer, wasn’t she doing the same thing?

But it’s not everyday somebody asks you to help her rip a hole in the universe, or at least find an existing one so she can track down her alien god boyfriend. Nope. Darcy was definitely not jumping for the easier, and especially not the safer, path.

And with that thought, Darcy realized she’d already made her decision. There really wasn’t any other choice.

Jane must have seen something in her expression, because the scientist began smiling broadly.

“So,” Darcy began, “when do we begin?”

“Well, let’s get you graduated first, and then we can talk.”


End file.
